A brace by Gonzalo Higuain inspired Juventus to a 2-0 victory over Monaco in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.

Massimiliano Allegri opted for a three-man central defence, with Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci lining up, along with Dani Alves and Alex Sandro at wing back, while Paulo Dybala played behind Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic.

Meanwhile,  Leonardo Jardim named Jemerson and Kamil Glik in defence, with Thomas Lemar and Nabil Dirar deployed on the flanks and Radamel Falcao and Mbappe up front for the hosts.

Juve got off to a good start with Dani Alves picked out on the right-hand side by a big diagonal switch, but a deflected cross from the Brazilian deflected kindly into the hands of Danijel Subasic.

The visiting side came close to breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute when Alves squared a neat ball into the path of Dybala, but the Argentine striker failed to sort his footing out as the ball flashed across the face of goal.

Monaco had their first real opportunity at goal in the 17th minute as Kylian Mbappe fired his low strike at goal, but the Italian goalkeeper stood tall to parry the ball clear of the danger zone.

Buffon was called into action in the 21st minute after Falcao directed his headed effort into the top corner, but the Juve shot-stopper did well to push the ball behind for a corner.

However, Juventus eventually opened the scoring eight minutes later when Alves linked up brilliantly with Higuain at the edge of the penalty area, before the former Napoli forward thumped his first-time finish across Subasic and into the bottom-left corner.

Dybala had a chance to double Juve’s lead in the 39th minute when he drilled his free-kick from 25 yards out, but Subasic was on hand to make a comfortable save.

Juventus took a one-goal lead as the match went into the half-time interval.

The home side came out a better team in the second-half, as Falcao was played through on goal by Bernardo Silva, forcing Buffon to come off his line slightly before making a simple stop to thwart the former Atletico Madrid forward.

Juve then doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Alves did well to pick out Higuain at the back post, before the Argentina striker slotted home from close range.

Silva had a chance to pull a goal back in the 75th minute after he was picked out by Joao Moutinho, but Bonucci applied pressure on the midfielder, who deflected the ball out for a goal-kick.

Monaco had a chance to reduce the deficit in the 83rd minute when Falcao chested the ball down to set himself up for an acrobatic volley, however his attempt was blocked and deflected behind for a corner.

The home side came inches wide of scoring in the 89th minute as Germain headed his effort towards goal, but the Italian goalkeeper pushed his effort just over the crossbar.

Juventus held on to their two-goal lead against Monaco until the final whistle, as they now head into their second-leg match at the Juventus Stadium with two away goals.

Image: Uefa website